Tube squeezer dispenser



Oct. 25, 1966 c. c. THOMPSON 3,281,016

TUBE SQUEEZER DISPENSER Filed March 18, 1965 32 //YVE/V7'0 CHARLES C.THOMPSON Z512 ZLi United States Patent 3,281,016 TUBE SQUEEZER DISPENSERCharles C. Thompson, University of Chattanooga, Dept.

of Economics and Business Administration, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Filed Mar. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 440,880 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-103) Thisinvention relates to a tube squeezer dispenser and especially to adevice of this sort which includes a pair of opposing faces receiving acollapsible tube, such as a toothpaste tube or shaving cream tube, inbetween and having means for forcing the faces together to selectivelydispense the substance from the end of the tube.

Tube squeezers are well known in the art and comprise many forms ofdevices for receiving a collapsible tube of toothpaste or shaving creamor other substance and supporting it for selective dispensing as bywinding the tube around a winding member or squeezing the tube between apair of rollers. Some of these devices are very satisfactory but theyare more expensive than the present device to manufacture and requiremore attention for cleaning and the like. A primary advantage of thepresent invention resides in the simplicity of construction and in thevery low cost of production which makes it possible even to produce thisdevice and give it away as a premium attached to a box of toothpaste orshaving cream.

Generally described, without restriction on the scope of my invention asdefined in the appended claims, one form of the device is manufacturedfrom one continuous length of bendable metal such as copper, brass oraluminum which is bent upon itself along a bottom, smooth curve to formto approximately equal length plates having opposed faces extendingdivergence from the bottom curved portion. One of these plates is a backplate and has a backwardly bent lip at the lower end where the outlet ofthe tube would be located and the other would be considered the frontplate which is normally exposed to the front of the device and it has aninwardly bent and curved tube nozzle receiving member which is slottedto fit around the usual cylindrical and threaded outlet of a collapsibletube. A pressure and retaining member which may be manufactured from acontinuous length of bent wire is fitted about both of the opposedplates and when the tube is substantially full and new this member islocated near the top and may be moved gradually down to push thediverging plates together in increments as the substance is removedgradually to collapse the entire tube toward the bottom until the tubeplates have been brought substantially parallel and the tube iscollapsed and exhausted therebetween. The cap of the tube is exposed andmay be removed and replaced easily and the present device may either behung from a convenient hanger or may be attached to the wall at the topor supported in some other manner.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a collapsibletube squeezer which is easily manufactured from inexpensive materialsand at very low cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible tubesqueezer which may be made from one continuous length of bendablematerial, or molded from one piece of bendable plastic, whereby thedevice simply comprises a pair of diverging and flexible plates whichmay be pushed together about a collapsible tube by means of a simplewire pressure member.

Another object of this invention resides in the particular constructionof the device wherein the lower end includes a tube nozzle member whichfits over the nozzle and outlet of the tube and exposes the cap forremoval and replacement.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the present invention havinga conventional view toothpaste tube therein and illustrating thedispensing to a toothbrush.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the device in FIG. 1 as supported ona wall surface with the closure thereon.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 2 andsimilar thereto except that the tube is almost completely collapsed andthe cap is off.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 and the device shown therein which inassembled condition is designated generally and overall by referencenumeral 10, this form of the present invention is constructed eitherfrom one continuous length of substantially fiat, elongated metal plateor plastic material which has been bent upon itself to form a smoothcurved bottom edge 12 having the back plate 14 and the front plate 16extending therefrom and plates 14, 16 diverge from edge 12 to the loweroutlet end which is designated generally as 18. Both plates 14, 16 aresubstantially fiat except that they are adapted to be squeezed togetherand brought into more parallel relationship and therefore are flexiblyarranged according to the bottom edge 12. Each plate is substantiallyfiat except for the curvature that has been placed therein and backplate 14 includes an inwardly turned lip portion 20 at the outlet end 18which would extend from the typical tube 22 supported on the device 10.

Plate 16 is curved inwardly from the edge 12 and with the lower end 24thereof extending outwardly away from plate 14 until it reaches theoutlet portion 18 proximity at which point the plate 16 is bent inwardlyto form a tube retaining portion 26 having a notched portion 28 thereinwhich fits about the conventional threaded outlet or nozzle 30 of theconventional tube 22. Normally, a cap or closure member 32screw-threaded closes the outlet 30.

In the present embodiment, the upper 12 of the present device 10 isprovided with a hanger in the form of an eyelet 33 which may be hung ona hook 34 adjacent the tile portion 36 of the bathroom or which may bepermanently fastened to the wall 36 if desired.

Tube 22 is placed between plates 14, 16 and held therein by means of aretaining pressure member 38 which in the present embodiment isconstructed from an elongated, continuous piece of small wireconstructed from stainless steel or any other material and which is bentto form a loop having ends 40, 42 and when the member 38 is in placeafter fitting about and on the plates 14, 16 by insertion over the edge12, it is slid until enough pressure is exerted between the plates 14,16 and on the tube 22 to hold the retaining member 38 in place and tohold the tube 22 in place between the plates 14, 16. This exerts acertain amount of pressure on the tube and the contents and dependingupon how much the member 38 is pulled and forced downwardly, a slightamount of pressure would be inside the tube so that when the cap 32 isremoved a small amount of the contents 44, which in the presentembodiment is toothpaste that is being dispensed to a toothbrush 46,would automatically flow onto the brush 46.

As seen in FIG. 4, as the contents 44 is gradually removed from the tube22, the wire retaining member 38 is gradually moved down the device 10forcing the plates 14, 16 closer together at the diverging portionsgradually bringing the plates into closer parallel relationship aboutthe collapsible tube 22 until the member 38 reaches an almost bottomposition which is approaching in FIG. 4 until it reaches the portion 26on member 16 at which time it is prevented from further movement and atthis 3 time the tube 22 is substantially depleted and needs to bereplaced.

It should be noted, that the inwardly curved portion 20 allows the backplate 14 to rest against the wall 36 if it is desired to dispensewithout removing the device 10 from its hanger 34, in the manner whichwill be apparent from a consideration of FIGSv 2 and 4 as well asFIG. 1. It should also be noted that the notched portion 28 fits overthe lower end of the tube 22 and around the nozzle 30 and holds the tubeproperly in place but at the same timetallows free access for theremoval and replacement of the cap 32.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my device,together with a suggested mode of operation and expected resulttherefrom, this is by way of illustration only and does not constitutethe only expression of my invention or the expected operation, sincevarious alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions,ramifications, elucidations, revisions and departures may be made from aparticular form of the in vention illustrated herein without departingfrom the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a tube dispensing collapsing device for dispensing from acollapsible tube containing a substance,

(a) a pair of elongated tube disposing plate members formed from acontinuous piece of material connected at one end, and said membersextending substantially co-extensively from said connected end anddiverging therefrom,

(b) each of said plate members being substantially flat and having aspace therebetween to receive a collapsible tube therein,

(c) the end of one of said plates remote from the said connected endhaving an inwardly curved portion thereon,

(d) the end of said other plate remotely located from said connectionend having a curved end thereon and a notched portion therein which fitsabout the outlet portion of a conventional collapsible tube,

(e) and a tube retaining and pressure member mounted on and about saidplate members and being movable relative thereto and being smaller thanthe distance around said plates with a tube therebetween whereby saidmember is moved on said plates the contents of said tube is forced fromthe outlet.

(f) said retaining and pressure member being a continuous wire memberformed as a continuous loop with curved portions on each end and saidmember is large enough to be placed over one end of said device near theintersection of the two plates but small enough to be unable to fit overthe plates when pushed apart by the contents of the tubes therebetween.

2. In a tube dispensing collapsing device for dispensing from acollapsible tube containing a substance,

(a) a pair of elongated tube dispensing plate members formed from acontinuous piece of material connected for movement at one end, and saidmembers extending substantially co-extensively from said connected endand diverging therefrom,

(b) each of said plate members being substantially flat and having aspace therebetween to receive a collapsible tube therein,

(c) the end of one of said plates remote from the said connected endbeing a tube outlet end,

(d) and a tube retaining and pressure member mounted on and about saidplate members and being movable relative thereto and being smaller thanthe distance around said plates with a tube therebetween whereby saidmember is moved on said plates the contents of said tube is forced fromthe outlet,

(e) one of said plates being designated as the back plate when thedevice normally is supported With respect to a wall surface and saidbackplate having an inwardly turned lower edge adjacent where the outletof the tube is normally positioned and said edge extending toward thewall, and said other plate having an inwardly curved lower edgeextending in the same direction and having a notched portion thereinwhich normally is positioned about the outer portion of the tube,

(f) said retaining and pressure member being a continuous wire memberformed as a continuous loop with curved portions on each end and saidmember is large enough to be placed over one end of said device near theintersection of the two plates but small enough to be unable to fit overthe plates when pushed apart by the contents of the tubes therebetween.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1942 Hollenbeck222103 X 9/1954 Budnick 222--103

1. IN A TUBE DISPENSING COLLAPSING DEVICE FOR DISPENSING FROM ACOLLAPSIBLE TUBE CONTAINING A SUBSTANCE, (A) A PAIR ELONGATED TUBEDISPOSING PLATE MEMBERS FORMED FROM A CONTINUOUS PIECE OF MATERIALCONNECTED AT ONE END, AND SAID MEMBERS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLYCO-EXTENSIVELY FROM SAID CONNECTED END AND DIVERGING THEREFROM, (B) EACHOF SAID PLATE MEMBERS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT AND HAVING A SPACETHEREBETWEEN TO RECEIVE A COLLAPSIBLE TUBE THEREIN, (C) THE END OF ONEOF SAID PLATES REMOTE FROM THE SAID CONNECTED END HAVING AN INWARDLYCURVED PORTION THEREON, (D) THE END OF SAID OTHER PLATE REMOTELY LOCATEDFROM SAID CONNECTION END HAVING A CURVED END THEREON AND A NOTCHEDPORTION THEREIN WHICH FITS ABOUT THE OUTLET PORTION OF A CONVENTIONALCOLLAPSIBLE TUBE, (E) AND A TUBE RETAINING AND PRESSURE MEMBER MOUNTEDON AND ABOUT SAID PLATE MEMBERS AND BEING MOVABLE